George McGrath age 2 from San Francisco waits his turn for a ride on one of the Bay Area's most historical Carousel is located in Golden Gate Park, on the west side of Koret Children's Quarter Playground. Tuesday June 30, 2009.

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

George McGrath age 2 from San Francisco waits his turn for a ride...

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A rooster figure at the Tilden Park Merry-Go-Round.

Photo: Peter Hartlaub

A rooster figure at the Tilden Park Merry-Go-Round.

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CAROUSEL_089_fl.jpg; Sid Valledor Jr. celebrates his 3rd birthday with his dad Sid (senior) with a ride on the Zeum Carousel at Yerba Buena Garden, SF.
City:Ê 12/28/03, in San Francisco, CA.

Photo: Frederic Larson, The Chronicle

CAROUSEL_089_fl.jpg; Sid Valledor Jr. celebrates his 3rd birthday...

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The frog carousel figure at the Golden Gate Park Carrousel.

Photo: Peter Hartlaub

The frog carousel figure at the Golden Gate Park Carrousel.

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TK

Photo: Paul Sakuma, AP

TK

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The lion figure at the Eugene Friend Carousel at the San Francisco Zoo.

Photo: Peter Hartlaub

The lion figure at the Eugene Friend Carousel at the San Francisco...

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A sign at the W.E. (Bill) Mason Carousel in Los Gatos.

Photo: Peter Hartlaub

A sign at the W.E. (Bill) Mason Carousel in Los Gatos.

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Lila Holt age 3 takes a last look while leaving one of the Bay Area's most historical Carousel, located in Golden Gate Park, on the west side of Koret Children's Quarter Playground. Tuesday June 30, 2009.

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

Lila Holt age 3 takes a last look while leaving one of the Bay...

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A wooden horse awaits its next rider at one of the Bay Area's most historical Carousel located in Golden Gate Park, on the west side of Koret Children's Quarter Playground. Tuesday June 30, 2009.

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

A wooden horse awaits its next rider at one of the Bay Area's most...

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A wooden lion with a mermaid hanging onto it's collar awaits its next rider at one of the Bay Area's most historical Carousel located in Golden Gate Park, on the west side of Koret Children's Quarter Playground. Tuesday June 30, 2009.

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

A wooden lion with a mermaid hanging onto it's collar awaits its...

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Bennett Barsotti age 6 from San Anselmo Ca hangs on to his wooden horse during a visit to one of the Bay Area's most historical Carousel located in Golden Gate Park, on the west side of Koret Children's Quarter Playground. Tuesday June 30, 2009.

That sound you hear in the distance is organ music, mixed with the creaking of century-old gears. The Bay Area may not be especially kid friendly, but this is still a destination region for people who love old wooden carousels.

There were once more than 3,000 classic carousels for the public to ride in the United States. There are now around 140. Six of those are open to the public in the Bay Area, making this one of the most highly concentrated carousel regions in the nation.

Those numbers don't include the metal carousels from the 1940s and 1950s, or the fiberglass replicas that have been manufactured in more recent years. (The Bay Area has more than a dozen working carousels total.) National Carousel Association Vice President Jo Downey said the golden age of carousels lasted roughly from the late 1890s to the late 1920s, when a handful of famous and talented carousel-makers were carving wood horses and other animals as fast as they could make them.

"They were artists, but it was also an industry," said Downey, who has helped preserve the 104-year-old Kit Carson County Carousel in Colorado. "I've been working with this one for the past 30 years, and I still discover things that I haven't seen before."

The older the carousel, it seems, the more detailed the sculpture work of the animal figures. At more than one local carousel, elaborate doll-size human faces are carved into the saddles. Most classic carousels in the Bay Area have carefully restored scenery panels near the middle of the ride.

In San Francisco alone, there's a Herschell-Spillman carousel in Golden Gate Park, a Dentzel/Illions carousel at the San Francisco Zoo and a rare Looff carousel at Yerba Buena Gardens - all considered master carousel-makers from the early 20th century.

"Each one of those three manufacturers had a totally different style," Downey said. "It would be like a car enthusiast being able to see three completely different types of retooled automobiles."

The carousel-preservation cause took its biggest hit in the 1970s and early 1980s, when the market for individual carousel figures was strongest. A single animal could sell for six figures, and carousel owners discovered that the parts were often worth a lot more than the whole merry-go-round. In recent years, private buyers have purchased entire carousels and kept them away from the public.

But Downey said most of the restored carousels operating now are probably here to stay - especially in places such as the Bay Area, where preservationists are active and carousels are often owned and operated by cities and parks departments.

"Think of all the projects that you'll have people disagreeing with each other, holding up signs on both sides of the street," Downey said. "That doesn't happen with us. Who doesn't love a carousel?"

For this article, we took a very critically minded 4-year-old boy and rode the six classic carousels in the Bay Area. Details for each one accompany this article, along with a few facts about the double-decker carousel at California's Great America.

Be sure not to miss ... the chariot being pulled by three tiny horses, which has a cool "Ben-Hur" vibe; the pink popcorn sold in the snack shop adjoining the Merry-Go-Round (pink popcorn should be the official food of carousels).

Be sure not to miss ... the best playground in the Bay Area, the Koret Children's Quarter, which is adjacent to the carrousel; (carrousel is the French spelling).

4-year-old's comment: "I liked the frog."

320 Bowling Green Drive in Golden Gate Park; open daily during the summer from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Looff Carousel at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Current location: Santa Cruz

Year built: 1911

Manufacturer: Looff

Ticket price: $3 per ride

Animals included: Horses

Strangest figure: The chariot with the creepy homicidal-looking clowns

Be sure not to miss ... the brass ring (the Boardwalk carousel has a working dispenser of brass rings, which riders can throw into a clown's mouth on the far side of the ride); when there's a free musical act at the Boardwalk, you'll also have a chance of seeing a glimpse of Eddie Money or Sha Na Na during your ride.

Strangest figure: Lion with sculpture of topless woman near the saddle

Be sure not to miss ... Yes, you read that right - there's a half-nude woman on one of the carousel animals (she looks kind of like a "Good Will Hunting"-era Minnie Driver); the house cats all have fish in their mouths.